how sweet it is! stands for division champs. the nationals clinch the nl east title for the first time since moving back to d.c. it is still sinking in, folks. good afternoon, i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat law son muse. it was an unusual scene for sure. the nats didn't score a single run but they still got to celebrate as they made franchise history. now more on what lies ahead for the team. >> reporter: hey, jim and pat. i'm sure we all know the numbers. the first time since 1933. 79 years that we have a first place baseball team here in washington. davy johnson has been saying since spring training, it is a three-step process. first, qualify for the playoffs. second, win the division. and then three, win the world series. to win the world series though, it will help the nationals if they have home-field advantage. right now they are tied with the cincinnati reds for the best record in baseball. with two games to go, the

nationals, if they win both, will likely have that number one seed. if they have that top seed, they will begin the postseason on sunday against the winner of friday's wild card game. if they don't, and if it is the number two seed, they will start their postseason in san francisco against the giants. two more to go. start tonight with the phillies here at nats park. back to you. >> thank you. >> and you can just, you can hear fans saying thank you, pittsburgh. the nats' number one finish has fans buzzing. that's another accomplishment since this is unusually considered, is usually, rather, considered a football town. >> as far as megan mcgrath spend the morning with some nats fans who say they've been waiting a long time for this. >> we're here at the tasty diner in bethesda. a local landmark that opened in the 1930s. in the 1930s. that's the last time a washington baseball team took the title. so needless to say, this is all very big news.

look at that headline. nats clinch! we've been talking to fans here. nats fans and they are very excited. at the tasty diner this morning, the omelettes came with a side of nat-itude. the braves lost, too, so it doesn't matter. the nats are the nl east division champions. >> i'm hoping they can all the way. we haven't had a champion in a long time. it is the first time in 79 years that a washington baseball team has taken the title. last time was the senators back in 1933. and nats fans are thrilled. >> how far will they go? >> i have confidence in them. i think they'll go all the way. >> i'm excited. we have not had a baseball team in this area do well for many, many years, probably since the as far as were in, way before my

time. but i'm forward to it. i'm really excited. >> reporter: the nats' achievement may only be hours old but already the t-shirts are on the rack. modell's open up at 8:00 a.m. this morning and fans wasted no time snapping up shirts and hats. >> i brought two t-shirts, the gray ones they were wearing last night when they were celebrating i wanted to buy them because we haven't had a team in d.c. to cheer for in i don't know how long. so it has been a long wait. >> well, i saw one, somebody wearing one of these last night. and i was forced to leave a little earlier to try to beat the traffic out of south capital street. and i figured i would get back in here. >> reporter: and nats' merchandise is hot. we've seen a lot of hats and a lot of shirts out there today. a lot of very happy fans. in bethesda, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> coming up tonight, tom sherwood catches up to a long suffering nats season ticket holder who now has even more

reason to cheer. here's a reason to cheer. the traffic lights are again in montgomery county. commuters in rockville and north bethesda had a tough time this morning because a power outage left more than 20 signals dark. heavy rain led to downed wires, and a telephone pole caught fire along rockville pike at nicholson lane. power in that area has since been restored. the rain made for a rough trip on our roads. some drivers had to battle flooding today. >> team 4 meteorologist veronica johnson joins us now. can we expect more problems tonight? >> we can speck more problems tomorrow morning. but for a different reason as you'll see coming up. as far as the rain goes, take a look at the waves of moderate to heavy rain. it started at 5:00 a.m. and it didn't let up, the moderate to heavy rain until about 5:00. look at those totals. one in over two inches with flooding in frederick county, maryland. for a time, the road in

gaithersburg was closed. some light showers, generally light showers moving through southern maryland. you look through the northern neck and there are a few spots around leonardtown and areas through east of richmond, virginia, where it is 71 degrees right now. one thing that you will notice is the higher humidity coming our way for the next 24 hours. we're in the 60s now. mid 60s, 71 in d.c. temperatures are not going to drop a whole lot over the next couple hours. we'll talk about what is the next big thing we have to deal with coming up. >> looking ahead to this winter, the season is about to get a new infusion of personality. the weather channel has decided to begin naming winter storms to help track severe weather systems. similar to the way tropical storms are named during a hurricane season. so what is in a name for a winter storm? according to the weather channel experts, that depends on the storm itself. >> names with an attitude. winter weather certainly has an

attitude and takes on a certain personality. that will be our theme for this year. >> so far name on the list include athena, draco and magnus. only noteworthy storms will be named based on criteria like snowfall accumulation, the winds, and other factors that can have a big impact on the public. nbc 4's parent company, nbc universal also owns the weather channel. today marks ten years since the sniper killing spree here in the washington area. for 23 long agonizing days. daily routines like filling up your car today gas station became terrifying for people all around the region. in all, ten people were killed. three others were wounded. the first victim was gunned down in a parking lot in wheaton. police eventually arrested john ellen mohamed and lee boyd malvo. mohammed was executed in 2009.

malvo who was 17 at the time is serving a life sentence without parole. today jackie bensen got reaction from victims' relatives whose lives were forever changed by the attacks. that story is coming up at 5:00. a mother fromoudoun county disappeared and police are calling it suspicious now. 36-year-old leyla mccullagh disappeared from her home on august 13th. investigators tell us she appeared to be suffering from an unknown medical condition at the time. detectives say mccullagh had a husband and two children. they searched the husband's apartment in hernandez last month. several guns and ammunition were confiscated and police say foul play may be involved. pat collins will have much more on the allegations flying coming up at 5:00 tonight. last-minute preparations are underway for tomorrow's first presidential debate in denver. it could be the best chance for mitt romney to change the race in battleground states like colorado, florida, and ohio. nbc's steve handelsman joins us live with more on what to speck

during the rumble in the rockies. steve? >> reporter: i like that, pat, thanks. good evening. this is the campus of the university of denver. south and west of downtown on the way to the mountains. this is the site of tomorrow night's possibly critical first presidential debate. it will be watched nationwide. some voters in ohio camped out to be the first to cast early ballots in this battleground state. most states start voting before november 6th. putting more focus on the first debate in denver. doug hudson, andrew and chris run bicycle company in colorado. they took me out to red rocks today. these guys will watch the debate. andrew, hoping for a breakthrough by his candidate, mitt romney. >> i want him to talk about conservative values, especially economically. empowering small businesses. >> reporter: chris used to vote

republican. not anymore. >> what changed my mind recently is it seems to have gotten away from taking care of the little guy. >> reporter: doug is undecided. >> i would like to see some details both from romney and obama mainly on tax policy. >> reporter: vice president biden charged today, team romney would hike middle class taxes. >> how they can justify raising taxes of the middle class that has been buried the last four years. >> reporter: the republicans jumped on that. buried by obama? in colorado, mitt romney took a break for a burrito bowl. >> how are you doing today? >> reporter: romney's number two, paul ryan, kept campaigning. >> the obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. >> reporter: that's the kind of zinger sure to be heard tomorrow night. doug, andrew and chris say they hope to hear a lot of substance, too.

a debate number one in their battleground state. >> reporter: so how critical will this first presidential debate be? today's nbc news "wall street journal" poll finds 38%, more than a third of voters say this debate and the ones to follow will be quite important or extremely important to their decision about who to vote for. live from denver, i'm steve handelsman, news 4. >> thanks, steve. and a program note. nbc news will provide live coverage and analysis of the presidential debate. you can watch it here on nbc 4 starting at 9:00 tomorrow night. meanwhile a judge in pennsylvania has postponed the commonwealth's tough new voter i.d. law. that law requires each voter to show a valid photo i.d. at the polls. supporters say it will prevent voter fraud. critics say there's not enough time for everyone to get the i.d.s and the law could deter some elderly and minority voters from going to the polls. today's decision blocks the i.d.

requirement for now but allows it to go into effect next year. the ruling could be appealed, but analysts say it is unlikely to be overturned before the election. she says a dollar makes her holler. coming up next, just how much money is honey boo boo making from being a reality star? here's a hint. her family is getting a big pay raise. i'll bet. plus the problem with the iphone 5 that is leaving a lot of customers fearing bigger cell phone bills. this is a story you have to see to believe. parents renting alligators to swim around during their children's pool parties. 99.5 is standing by. he'll have more on that. and tell us what b

taylor swift may see it now but she doesn't want to say it now or hear it now. the country pop star is interviewed in glamour magazine's november issue. when the subject of her former beau singer john mayer came up, she refused to listen to what he told rolling stone about her in july. mayer said the song "dear john" humiliated him and he said it was in his words, a really lousy thing for her to do. as for swift's part, she said he was presumptuous to think the song was about him and she never discloses who her songs are about. >> take that. another famous couple rekindling their relationship just in time to promote their

new movie. rob pattinson and kristen stewart have agreed to take part in a publicity tour starting october 28th for the final "twilight" film. it will be the first they both appeared in public together since she apologized for cheating on him. the new movie breaking down part ii premiers nationwide november 16. >> is that all about the movie? they're not moving on up but the stars of here come honey boo boo are getting a big raise. tmz reports the family of alanna thompson will be paid between 15 and $20,000 an episode next season. that's up from the 5,000 to $7,000 this season. they offered to find the family a bigger house. the network was turned down.

they can buy their own. are you scrambled or over easy? you might want to replace the kids' pictures on your desk at work with picks of your pets. and the next generation of adventure parties for kids. wait until you hear this. here's cane of 99.5. we've had the chuck e. cheese and the pony parties but they're all passe. >> i was so excited to come show you this video today. i e-mailed both of you. i can't wait to see you guys. take a look at this. this is out of florida. this is a guy who owns a company called alligator attractions. is that an alligator in the pool with kids? yeah. bob barrett has formed alligator attractions and you can hire baby alligators to come to your kids' party. because going out to the ball pit at your favorite fast food restaurant is so boring. this is living on the edge. he tapes the mouth shut. and he says, and the florida fish and wildlife claim the alligators really aren't bothered by it too much, nor with the chlorine.

they're friendly and he uses names like fido and kermit so they seem more friendly. but don't worry. >> you are in a whole lot of trouble. >> who thinks has the good idea? >> at least they're baby alligators. >> oh, yeah, they're only a little smaller. but it is perfectly legal! >> that has wrong written all over it. >> anything for a thrill, i guess. >> from video to pictures. we're used to putting pictures of our families at work for inspiration. we're hearing pets might be a better idea. >> a japanese university went into 48 people, divided them into two groups. one group looked at cute little pups like that. and the other group looked at pictures of full grown animals. and they found that doing the game operation, you played that, right? where you put the zzt! take the kidney bone out or whatever. they found those that looked at the pictures of the cute little animals did better in almost all tests even when they threw in

random pictures of sushi and pets, if the pictures were of smaller animals, they did better. human slow their speech down when speaking to babies. and they also found that they're more cautious. so when at pictures of little things, people, pets, cats, dogs, people were more cautious and paid more attention to the office and work. and they found, you know, they did better. >> except if it is a tiny alligator. you don't want that on your desk. >> we need to spruce this place up. we need some pictures of animals around here. >> not quite so calming there. there is a new study about the eggs, the way we like to eat them says about us. >> the way you eat your eggs for breakfast. do you have any particular favorites? >> scrambled. >> omelettes. >> here's what we did learn. scrambled know you're probably guarded and you don't have any kids. >> well, one of those is true. i won't tell you which. >> fried eggs. you probably have a high sex drive. omelette, you're self-disciplined. >> i agree with that.

boiled, you're probably disorganized and most likely to get divorced. and poached eggs mean you're outgoing. don't yell at me. i just read the story. >> how do you like your eggs? >> actually i like an omelette, too. >> way to go. >> yeah! >> obviously -- at 7:15, we have a brand new game. we will not toss any alligators in pools as part of the prank tomorrow, we promise. 7:15 tomorrow. >> do you promise? >> no gators. >> no animals. >> no gators with your eggs. thank you. let's find out if we'll play ball tonight. how is it looking? >> it is looking wet. although, i'm still back on the egg thing. i like my eggs hard boiled. i am not disorganized. i am not. i am an organized person. all right. hey, take a look at what's going

on out there. we've got the showers for the most part out of here. there's still some lingering showers across southern maryland where it is 71 degrees. reagan national, the wind out of the north at six miles per hour. here's the radar. you can see we have a few light showers lingering around fauquier county toward southern maryland. areas of the northern neck. and into the eastern shore. but again, the most part, quiet. a little moderate rain into richmond. that's all sliding northeast toward delaware. toward new jersey. and i'm keeping the showers, some light showers in our forecast until about midnight for that area across southern maryland. and the northern neck. we're in the low 60s, some areas, upper 60s. that would be that pocket down south. culpepper around fredericksburg, 68 to 73 degrees. your temperature. 71 in d.c. and 72 right now in annapolis, maryland. your forecast for the overnight and early part of the day as those showers and we are going to see fog form. this morning we had the heavy rain to deal with. tomorrow morning, it will be the

fog. it will be dense, i think, and hitting a lot of neighborhoods and not lifting to late. we'll see that cold front push toward the east and we'll get some sunshine in here tomorrow. but clouds at first and a whole lot of fog. tomorrow will be one of those weird days where all of a sudden, we've gone from fall back to late summer. humid, warm, temperatures in the mid 80s. a mixture of clouds and sun again for thursday before that whole system kicks out of here. evening forecast. again, rain ends about midnight. completely. we'll see that fog form. 68 to 74 degrees. temperatures will not drop much more by tomorrow morning. 65 to 70 degrees. i'm not going to rule out the possibility of a sprinkle up across northern maryland. again, clouds and fog for tomorrow morning. you may want to give yourself a little extra time for the morning rush. 82 to 86 degrees. clouds and sun. warm and humid conditions for tomorrow. here's a look at your four-day forecast. 85 on wednesday. 82 degrees on thursday.

again, we could see an isolated shower. we've got real nice conditions for friday. that's great for friday football. then 77 degrees with a few showers coming in late. that's the

you're taking a look at the city cam. we've got some fog. the rain has ended for the most part. there is just a small chance for a few more light showers coming through the area this evening. then with a collapse of showers, we take a look at the forecast. a few light showers out of the south at five and a fairly light wind by tomorrow morning. speaking of the fog. you take look at radar, we've got visibility at two miles in baltimore. a half mile in sterling. and about two and a half miles in charlottesville. we're going to see those visibilities drop by tomorrow morning. the fog will get thick and

dense. again, as the rain ends, which we speck this to end about midnight. we've got some showers continuing to slide to the north and east. a few pockets of some moderate and heavy rain down through the northern neck up through saint mary's and calvert county. for the most part, that is headed to maryland's eastern shore in delaware. one little lonesome shower around warrenton, about ready to slide over i-66. so that heavy, the moderate rain that we had the first part of our day. that is all gone. and over. and for tomorrow morning, again for the morning rush, it is fog that will be the big deal. 66, our temperature to start out in frederick, maryland and mt. airy. 67 in leesburg. 69 degrees in manassas starting out for tomorrow morning. we look at the numbers. know there will be some humidity in the air even early. on it will be humid, foggy and rather mild, too, to start with an afternoon that will take us into the low to mid 80s.

welcome back at 4:30. i'm jim handly. >> i'm pat lawson muse. a document league has plagued the vatican. >> today in an italian

courtroom, pope benedict's butler admitted to stealing private documents from the pontiff's offices. >> as claudia reports, the butler says he's innocent. >> reporter: the pope's former butler took the witness stand and confessed being the person that stole and leaked private documents from the papal apartments to an italian journalist who later published them in a book. nevertheless he said he did not feel guilty of aggravated theft, the charges brought against him but he did feel guilty of having betrayed the pope's trust. he said he just acted alone with no accomplice. he never took money or presents in exchange for the documents. he just wanted to expose the evil and corruption he saw all around him in the catholic church. something that he saw but the pope apparently did not. during a personal anecdote, he explained he had lunches and dinners with the pope sometimes during which time he had a chat and realized, he said, how easy it was to manipulate a man with such power and even the pope

even asked questions about situations he should have been aware of in the first place. and therefore, he decided to expose the documents creating a scandal for which he may pay for a sentence of up to four years in an italian prison. he will be hoping if he does get extensioned that italian cells are bigger than cell at the vatican. he said during his first two weeks in isolation, the cell he was in was so small he couldn't even extend his arms. now the vatican has opened another inquiry into these allegations. nbc news, rome. trouble in the skies for american airlines. at least two separate 757 jets had to be diverted in recent days after several rows of seats came loose in mid flight. >> right now, all eight 757s in american's fleet are being inspected to see whether they share the same problem. why this is all very bad timing.

>> reporter: it was a bumpier than normal ride for passengers on two separate american airlines flights. >> roger. got an unusual one for you. >> reporter: boston to miami flight had to detour to new york after several rows of seats came loose mid flight. the pilot radioed air traffic control. >> roger. the reason, we don't know what kind of turbulence we have. the seat is loose and we don't want that thing flying around and hurting passengers. >> reporter: then monday a new york to miami flight experienced something very similar causing some passengers to miss their connections. >> it bothered us. now we wasted two days of our honeymoon. and that's money. that's money. now we have to pay for food. we have to pay for everything else. >> reporter: both planes were 757s. mechanics had recently adjusted the seat placele. they said the track the seats fit into may be defective and

they are inspecting 757s. all of this while american deals with public relations problems. it went from 82% in september 2011 compared to 86% at southwest and 88% at delta. american blame the slowdown on union pilots writing up trivial maintenance issues. the pilots blame the airlines' old planes but travel experts warn the flying public is getting fed up. >> tom tells us those seats didn't go sliding down the aisle. they just weren't locked down. a new law named after one of florida's most notorious cases is now in effect. caylee's law stiffens the maximum penalties for making a false statement to police about a missing child. it is named after a 2-year-old, caylee anthony, her mother casey was acquitted of murder charges in the little girl's death but was convicted of four counts of lying to police last year. she got a four-year sentence that she had already served while awaiting trial. under the new law, casey anthony

could have gotten up to 20 years in prison. a texas man being hailed a hero today after he rescued another man from a burning car. it happened thursday morning in the small town south of houston. the driver lost control of his car, crashing through bushes and signs before coming to a stop in front of a doctor's office. surveillance videos shows the car on fire. a deputy sheriff passing by saw the scene and he call for help. a good samaritan didn't wait for the help. he pulled up and got the man out of that burning car. the police officer says the man is a hero. >> i don't have a choice. i feel i have to react. the good samaritan stop, he has a choice. so to me that guy, you know, he is the hero. >> driver of the car escaped without any major injuries. verizon says it is not going to charge customers for problems caused by a wi-fi bug in the new iphone 5. iphone customers who bought the new phone or upgraded their

older phone to the new operating system have complained about a number of issues. some verizon customers found their phones using cellular data even when connected to wi-fi. that can lead to extra charges. but verizon said customers won't be charged for the problem. apple rolled out a software fix yesterday that is supposed to repair problem on iphone 5s. they're still looking into the issue of the operating system though. the world famous hollywood sign in los angeles is getting a makeover. the giant letters will be stripped down to the bare metal and then they'll get a brand new coat of white paint. the project started today and will last for the next ten weeks. the renovation comes just in time for the landmark's 90th birthday next year. it was built back in 1923 to help promote a new real estate development. back then called hollywood land. the last four letters were later removed. first lady michelle obama is opening up about what she may

get the president for their 20th wed go anniversary tomorrow. she visited the new steve harvey talk show. she talked about her marriage to the president and how hard he is to shop for. >> i've gotten him every golf thing that you can imagine. so i had to really dig deep on this one. >> can i tell you something? that's on the bucket list for me. >> golf? >> to play golf with your husband. >> oh. i could give that to him as a gift. [ laughter ] >> getting the gift. she can make that happen. the first lady also helped harvey answer an audience question during his ask steve segment. you can watch her appearance tomorrow afternoon on nbc 4 at 2:00. i don't think there is a golf course big enough for the president and steve harvey. that's a lot of personality. >> steve is hoping there is. inspiration strikes when the baby sleeps. coming up, a mother starts a

trend by turning nap time into a work of art. he put his hand on top of my head to hold me down, grabbed my necklace and yanked it off. >> and a woman goes after the

all right. wrap your head around this but take a new look. there is a new record for the number of coconuts smashed with

a head. a man in eastern india broke 18 coconuts with his head in 18 seconds. the feat earns him a spot in india's record book. as you might have guessed, this isn't his first coconut record. last year he opened 85 green coconuts with his elbow. just took him one minute. >> send that guy a box of excedrin. >> oh, yeah. that hurts just thinking about it. >> all right. time to check out today's daily deal. >> first up on living social. more than half off the price of a ticket to see the shakespeare theater coil. pay $41 and get one section a ticket to a mid summer's night's dream near verizon center. you have the option of a noon or 7:30 p.m. show on wednesday, november 21st. there are five days left to pick up that deal. >> hurry up. on group-on, pay $29 for two

tickets to madam tousseau's wax museum. you get to stand face to face with sports stars, all 44 u.s. presidents, a $58 value. this deal also lets you make your own souvenir wax hand. over 250 people have already signed up for this one. that's a lot of hands. coming up next, veronica will be back to tell us how long our rain will last. and a deep gash on a killer whale.

a snatch and grab thief learned his lesson after stealing a necklace from an 83-year-old woman in washington state. the lesson being, don't mess with my mom. john langler shows us how the victim's daughter took matters into her own hands to help police make an arrest. >> it is the most terrifying thing ever. >> reporter: who would have thought? >> that's probably one of my top five best days ever. >> reporter: what appeared to be another tragedy for the hall family -- >> she's 83 years old. what kind of a monster does that. >> reporter: would turn out so unexpectedly. >> a sigh of relief. >> reporter: saturday night kay hall was in her lake stevens home. a man she said did yardwork for her all summer made an unexpected visit. >> he put his hand on top of my head to hold me down, grabbed my

necklace and yanked it off. >> reporter: it wasn't just any necklace. it had a small gold nugget that was mined during the alaskan gold rush by her grandmother. a symbol of the family's lineage of tough women. hall was shaken and she wanted her hair loom back. >> i think if i had a small handgun, i might have hit for one of his toes. i am a really good shot. >> reporter: enter her daughter. she sprung into action. sun morning she was passing out flyers in this target parking lot near her mother's lake stevens home. >> as soon as he looked up and he saw me in the middle of the parking lane, he started to throw his hands up. >> reporter: she stumble bood the very man who robbed her mother just hours before. >> and inyou'd better run right now because you're going to jail. and he and i ran through that target parking lot through people, through cars. my heart, the adrenaline that was going through me. there wasn't anything that was going to stop me from getting him caught. >> reporter: with the help of a bystander and police, it is exactly what happened. >> it is exciting.

>> he is going to go to jail and i know that he is going to stand before a judge and i know he is going to have to account for his crime. >> reporter: and you put him there. >> and i put him there. >> good for her. >> a lot of folks are wearing their nats gear today. they've got their nats picks taken. >> right and they'll probably be wearing their gear for a long time. a sign of good luck. that's the way it usually works. we want to keep the winning streak around for a while. so here is what we're looking for. we are for, graphic up please. you, your pets, or, hey, how about your kids in the nats gear or in the color of the nats uniform. send it to nats pix@nbcwashington.com. we'll put the photos on. we like the team spirit around here. let's talk about what's going. on we are socked in. it is ugly but you know what? can you manning it being any

thicker out there? any soupier out there? that's tomorrow morning. tomorrow morning, some very dense fog around the area. we will continue to see the visibility drop during the overnight period. as far as rain goes, storm team 4 radar. the rain off to the east now. around chesapeake city, around dover, cambridge, and down through leonard town. it is this area down here just south of d.c. around waldorf, fredericksburg where there may be a few more showers sliding through during the overnight period until about midnight. showers turning over to fog. there's midnight. by tomorrow morning, we'll be mostly cloudy. again, fog. probably not lifting until 8:00 or 9:00. maybe even 10:00 tomorrow morning. we'll be slow to lift. rather thick, rather dense. then tomorrow, a mixture of clouds and sunshine on tap. still a warm afternoon and a humid afternoon with winds out of the south. thursday, almost the same kind of deal with a mixture of clouds and sunshine. albeit less humidity and can't rule out an isolated shower during the afternoon. especially east and points south

on thursday. here's a look at your high temperature for tomorrow. 83, frederick. 85, manassas. 86 in fredericksburg. warm conditions just about everywhere. that will be the case through the week, i think. at least on friday. we'll have that warmth with nice conditions we turn back to sunshine. then very late on saturday there's the possibility of a few showers coming through that will end early sunday morning. we'll have most of that wet weather overnight. what happens behind that system, it is a strong system. we'll get some very cool air and where overnight temperatures will be is where high temperatures will be there early part of next week. >> hold on all over the place. thanks. a mother brings dreams to life. still ahead on news 4, photos of a sleeping baby that have become a sensation. down, right now! no! no! >> whoa, he's backing up.

a woman who shows a bear who's boss. next, new details on a northern virginia mother who has been missing for several weeks. news4 has learned that police do have reason to suspect foul play and pat collins will have a live report. envelop these turtles were among 40 animals seized from a house here in anne arundel county. i'm darcy spencer. i'll have the story coming up. and tonight, we'll tell you and tonight, we'll tell you about the one thing that is e.

the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires. doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

a suspicious package between sixth and seventh streets. the metro station is also closed. we'll have more information on this straight ahead at 5:00. a creative trend is sweeping japan during nap time. thanks to a talented mother's whimsical photos. >> the mother uses a blanket and her sleeping baby as a canvas. with a few simple props like clothes and props and veggies she create as plot about what her child may be dreaming about. they are so popular she's created a book. others are creating their own baby dream art and it has

sparked similar efforts across japan. interesting. >> down! no, no, down! >> whoa! she's not having any of it. the black bear met his match when he wandered on to this family's property. the home owner apparently has this run-in fairly often. there are six other videos posted all over youtube with the bear trying to enjoy their backyard. and the same woman chasing them off. she has some spine or

an animal rights group is asking for answers after a killer whale at seaworld in san diego suffered a serious injury to the jaw. seaworld says the orca was hit during a show. but as nbc's miguel almaguer reports, peta says that isn't true. >> reporter: the pictures are hard to look. a according to peta, these photos were taken by a tourist on september 27th and show a deep penetrating gash on an 11-year-old orca whale named nikai at seaworld san diego. citing other pictures taken by a scientist this weekend, peta claims the whale was hurt after an altercation with other whales and has filed a complaint with

federal regulators for housing orcas together that are incompatible. >> in the wild, orcas choose their pod members. in captivity they are kept in such tight confinement that they're forced to be with animals they don't get along with. we understand from form he trails and whistle blowers that acts of aggression are common. >> reporter: despite the large gash, seaworld says that nikai was treated right away by a park veterinarian after the incident on september 20th and is recovering with new tissue growing in. the park declined our request for an interview, but did release video of nikai swimming and eating at shamu stadium on monday. in a stadium, seaworld suggests the incident did not involve an altercation with other whales saying, quote, it is believed nakai's injury occurred when he came into contact with a portion of the pool's environment. immediately prior to him sustaining the injury, he and two other whales were engaged in normal social behavior. the theme park's orca program

has come under fire before. in 2010, a trainer was killed by nakai's father, tilikum after the orca dragged her into the water by her pony tail in front of an audience full of horrified spectators. federal regulators have since banned them from entering the water during a performance with orcas and seaworld says it has improved procedures. >> they swim in endless circles in chemically treated water for dead fish all for the amusement of tourists. it is cruelty from the day they are born until the day they die. >> reporter: seaworld says it treats its animals with the utmost care and in a statement adds, there is no organization in the world more committed to the physical, social and mental welfare of its animals than seaworld. >> we contacted the department of agriculture about peta's complaint. they say an inspector will be send to sea world to check the validity of the claim.

now at 5:00, breaking news at this hour. a suspicious package causing problem for the afternoon commute. documents reveal new information about a northern virginia woman missing for several weeks. police are now investigating whether foul play was involved. ten years ago -- ten years ago, we were in the midst of one of the most terrifying attacks in our region. the sniper shootings. only the we are revisiting those whose lives were forever changed in that time. division champs for nats fans. two words have never sounded so. >> we're hearing from the fans whose years of loyalty have paid off. we have some breaking news will you need to hear about. in the 600 block of maryland avenue in southwest, that is just blocks south of the national mall. this has shut down maryland